Purple doily

Had to blow away the dust from the hand painted folkart box painted some 10 years ago by me. It is now displayed in my living room. On top of the box is a small purple doily measuring 11cm in diameter. Pattern was taken from DMC Book of charted Tatting Designs using DMC No 20 thread.

collection of books

I am fond of books and before I know it, over the years I have bought so many tatting books that have been tucked away on the bookshelf. So before we move onto the next decade, I thought I had better organize my shelf. These books are good therapy for a good night sleep.

Happy New Year to all who view my blog!!

BLESSED CHRISTMAS TO ALL !

Hello,

A blessed Christmas to all.

Here's a tatted Christmas tree with colourful beads.

I like the shine of the beads and hope to be able to tat more of these to give away in future.

shawl

You would never know what I found at one of the shops here. This particular shop sells tidbits from Myanmar and it also serves at a maid agency. Saw this tatted shawl hanging at the entrance of the shop and have to buy it. I learnt from the shop owner later that it is common to see burmese ladies using these tatted shawls in their country. Anyway, I ended up buying 2 pieces, one black and one cream coloured shawl.

Heart's desire

This heart was tatted using Mercer Crochet size 20 thread. I think I must have gotten this pattern from www.georgrasertz.com several years ago. Not sure if this site still exists. The background is a folkart painting of carousel painted on a stool during one of my folkart classes. I love the vibrant colours after it was completed.

colorful cross

well, have I been tatting lately? Yes and no..... wish I have the time to tat, paint, study my notes, exercise and read my books. In the midst of tatting a little dolly and will post it soon. Here's a colourful cross which I have tatted some time ago.

ORCHIDS

My first painting on orchids was a disaster. However my 2nd piece turned out looking just fine and was even put on the wall on display by the teacher! "Not bad" for someone who has just started to paint flowers, she said.

edging

edging yet to be fixed onto a hankie.

random tatting

small pieces of tatting done randomly when bored.....

How do one keep up with their own blog? I always wonder ?? Staring at the computer the whole day looking at figures is no fun. All I want to do after a day's work is to come back and read a good book, watch TV or tat. Please bear with me if I do not post on a regular basis.

This Mary Konior bookmark, 3rd one has taken me longer than I have expected to complete but am glad that it is done. Will have to stretch and starch it quick to give it away as a gift.

Huh, wonder what to tat next? Before I get hooked on another piece, I need to finish knitting a grey scarf for my son. Wonder why one would need a woollen scarf in sunny Singapore? This scarf was done 1 year ago for his holidays in cold Australia but was way too short as he is a tall chap. I have therefore to go get another 2 balls of wool to extend the scarf. See pic of original scarf.

Bookmark

I enjoy tatting bookmarks and this is one of the first bookmarks that I did many years ago. It has split rings at both ends and I remember trying to figure out how to do the split rings and bravo! managed to succeed and completed this piece, most times in the bus on my way to work or home.

jelly bean glass mat

Another completed glass mat ! I really like the way the colours turned out on the mat.

glass mat

This glass mat was completed about a month ago and I really happy with the end result. I have completed yet another in Lizbeth size 20 Jelly Bean thread and will post it when I have the time to take a pic of it.

tatting

Posting more of my tatting pieces

painting

Just started on another piece - Kampong scene on 1 July. Many details still unfinished. Will I eventually complete this piece before the month end or after I don't know but am enjoying filling in the colours. Next thing Ineed to do is to get more colors to bring out my pieces.

PEACE OF MIND

Let not your hearts be troubled !
PEACE OF MIND
If you were to ask your neighbor, "What would give you peace of mind?" he might tell you, "A vacation in Bermuda !" or "An extra hundred grand would give me peace!", or "A new Ferrari would make me content!" But going to places - and getting stuff - is usually
a temporary solution ...

Peace of mind rarely comes from getting more stuff. Getting more stuff usually leads to wanting even more stuff! Peace of mind starts with being grateful for what
we have right now.

GRATITUDE is POWER
When we are thankful for what we have - for the friends we have, and for the things we've got,
we attract more good people and good things!
People who always complain about what they DON'T HAVE, stay stuck.
Complainers attract more things to complain about!

It is a law of life. It's hard to explain, but you can observe it around you.

We get more of what we dwell upon. "Start by being thankful. Be happy with what you have now, and more will come your way." It's a practical advice: Every time you say a silent "thank you" become more peace

COLOURFUL SHUTTLES

These are the shuttles that I bought over the few years when I first started to learn how to tat. Only these types of shuttles are available here.

SHUTTLES

The wooden bird and hedgehog shuttles that I ordered arrived today!! I have always marvelled at how lovely they are on the website, and truly they are amazing light and beautifully done. They were so well packed and sealed in plastic that I am impressed. Thanks to Noreen for making sure that the shuttles do not get damaged during shipment.

money received

Today, I received an amount of 350 pounds for translations work from my ex-boss's company. Money will come handy to get a handbag or another camera lens.

MOTHERS

You all I just came to realise that all mothers (of course those who are genuine) think and behave the same. They are worried for their children, irregardless of the age group they are in. When my children were young, I was worried if they have enought to drink/eat. Are they sleeping enough? Will they be abused/beaten by the maid in my absence? Every single moment, I am thinking of their welfare even till today. In their teens, there are the BGR problems which we are concern if they are able to handle, pressures of school work, social, friends they mix with. As for the boy, I was extremely concern if he is mixing with right company, pick up bad influences, etc. Now that he is an adult, working and never comes home early most times, I am worried if he is eating well, managing his finances properly, etc. I thank God always for sustaining me throughout these times.

Why am I saying all these. My mother in law (gee's mum) expressed her concerns when she was told by him that he is planning to downgrade to a HDB flat and also at the same time to retire from work. She could not sleep the whole night thinking about it. My heart went out to her for her concern. She is after all still a mother. We have to alley her fears that he is doing alright and that ultimately all of us will have to retire. Thank God for the durians that Gee brought for her to soothe and calm her down.

lunch at Picotine

Enjoyed a lazy morning at home and decided later to go somewhere for a good western lunch. Gee surfed the net and found this italian place near the stable lodge (Turf Club). The chef at Picotine was formally from Sebastian's. Look what we had for lunch. Delicious !!



We then proceeded to Island Cremery for ice cream. Sour Sop Sorbet and Pulot Hitam .

We had too much for lunch !!

Dinner was BBQ at SAFRA - Gee's department organised their own BBQ.

completed another bookmark

yet another bookmark completed...... Mary Konior Black Magic.

Thread is 20. It took me approx a week to tatt this piece.

more of the king fruit

It's amazing how much durians I have eaten this year! This evening I come back to yet another box of durians from Violet. Even though they are not Cat Mountain King type, they are delicious ! So nice of her to even throw in a bag of mangosteens with these durians.


We had wanted to treat her and our parents to a feast of the king fruits, but she beat Vincent to pay for them - total $150 for 16kg of durians from Geylang !! We must treat them to Cat Mountain King durians when my girl comes home.

On Christ the Solid Rock I stand

When studying the chapter on suffering, this song kept coming to my mind.

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/m/y/myhopeis.htm

The Solid Rock

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

Refrain
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

Refrain
His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.

Refrain
When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

Refrain

Dinner at DianxioEr

By coincidence, Violet and Gina are able to make it for dinner with dad and mum, so we decided to take them out for dinner. Gina suggested that we try dianxiaoer at Jurong Point - www.­dianxiaoer.­com.­sg as she hears that the ducks there are good. All early birds who visit the restaurant before 6:30pm will be given a discount of 15%. We were there 5 mins before 6:30 pm and were given a token to enjoy this special discount. We did not select the set menu as mum would like to try the buddha jumps over the wall soup. The dishes we ordered were duck with 10 types of herbs, fried cod fish, 2 x soup, dong po (fatty pork meat), kai lan and seafood brocoli. The total bill came up to be $138 after discount. Food is so so and think they put in lots of ajinomoto as we were all thirsty after the meal. Anyway as they do not have the dessert we wanted, we proceeded to JinDeZi (Hong Kong dessert outlet) at the old wing for various types of desserts. Dad even tried the durian pastry!!
We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly and feel we should make this sort of night out more often in future. Glad that mum looked happy.

Next time, need to remember to take my camera along.

craft sites

found some new good sites

http://etatters.ning.com/photo/photo/list?invalidSlug=1 (cluny patterns and flowers)

http://home.netcom.com/~ntrop/cluny/instruct.htm (cluny tutorial)
http://www.palmettotatters.org/events/TatDays2007/Teachers/Riet_daisypicothomework.pdf (daisy picot)



http://www.blisstree.com/hankeringforyarn/fine-tuning-the-little-bird-tatting-shuttle/

THANK YOU LORD

We have a guest speaker, Maria Broersma, who is a gifted YWAM teacher currently based in Singapore. She brought to us a message entitled "God Remembers" at both E2 & E3 services at St James Church. She has a good sense of humour and always speaks in idioms to those close to her. She tells us the God has a memory like a steel trap. Why did she said that? When she was young her dad would place a huge trap to trap mice and when these mice are trapped they are definitely trapped and cannot escape. I was very encouraged by the sermon - God sees, God knows, never forgets and God rewards for our service to him.

Today, I received an email from Susan with the following encouraging words again,

" Hi all, I do not think it is a coincidence that my eldest daughter shared with me the above song after she came back from Cebu on Sunday and the lyrics are exactly in congruence to last Sunday's sermon (God Remembers). I believe God is reassuring all of us who are serving him in big or small ways that it is all worthwhile. Be encouraged. I am attaching the lyrics but you can listen to the song on Y-Tube.

Lyrics from the song: THANK YOU FOR GIVING TO THE LORD

I dreamed I went to heaven
And you were there with me;
We walked upon the streets of gold
Beside the crystal sea
We heard these angels singing
Then someone called your name
We turned and saw this young man running
And he was smiling as he came.

And he said, “Friend you may not know me now.”
And then he said, “But wait,
You used to teach my Sunday School
When I was only eight
And every week you would say a prayer
Before the class would start
one day when you said that prayer,
I asked Jesus in my heart.”

Chorus: so THANK YOU FOR GIVING TO THE LORD
I am a life that was changed.
Thank you for giving to the Lord
I am so glad you gave.

Then another man stood before you
said, “Remember the time
A missionary came to your church
And his pictures made you cry.
You didn’t have much money,
But you gave it anyway.
Jesus took the gift you gave
And that’s why I’m in heaven today.”

Repeat Chorus.

One by one they came
Far as your eyes could see.
Each life somehow touched
By your generosity.
Little things that you had done
Sacrifices made,
they went unnoticed on the earth
In heaven, now proclaimed.

And I know up in heaven
You’re not supposed to cry
But I am almost sure
I saw tears in your eyes.
As Jesus took your hand
And you stood before the Lord
He said, “My child, look around you.
Great is your reward.”

Repeat Chorus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzhFyNp3Ja8
"Thank You" By Ray Boltz

Painting materials

These are the materials that I bought including papers and bag (not in the pic).

water color painting

I signed up the water colour painting class at TP CC on 1 June 2009. Cost fee is S$150 for 4 lessons. Class starts at 7:00pm. After waiting so anxiously to start on my new art piece, I realised that the class does not sell painting materials. Fortunately the teacher had some papers with her and I had tostart to learn how to sketch first. Subsequently went to Straits at Bugis to purchase the materials. My first piece, a scenery of Kukup. After 4 lessons, see the final product of my first piece.

Durians ! How I came to love durians so much I believe the journey started last year (2008) when my "gee" bought a box of Mao Sun Wang home. They were solid and full of the custardy (if there is this word in the dictionary) fruit. I fell in love with it. Every day I would look forward to going home just to savour one seed every evening.

Well, for this year, gee again pampered me with durians. As I craved for them in May, he surprised me on evening by buying a box from Geylang at a cut throat price. They are not mao sun wang but good anyway. Then in June, we tried for the first time the stall at Dempsey carpark. Apparently Ah Tee has been selling there for 40 years and we have not even bothered to take a look at his durians. His durians are good ! Met Yoke Toh, Fu Yen and Yi Ann there too!! Their first time as well. We bought the Kaya and another local.

Gee went to Dempsey again 2 weeks later to look for MSW but instead brought back local durians again but they are very very good too.

Last week, after our crab meal at Ghim Moh, the stall next to the restaurant was selling MSW at $8/kg and we bought one too. It was delicious !!

Look at the seed of MSW.

Wall Plague

Eventually I managed to complete my Margaret W.ehking (240509)! Now finishing the final touches before I find a wall for it.

PV Special Pie

The PV special potatoe pie has been so popular every time we make it that it has now led me to post it on the web so that anyone who is keen can try it out. It is a dish popular with the old and the young. When my daughter was a baby, I used to make just the potato with cheese for her and she simply loved it, even till now.

Ingredients
Pie Topping

7 big potatoes
1-2 tbsp butter
1 cup fresh milk
1 tsp salt
Pepper to taste

1 egg for glazing

Filling for pie
300 gm minced meat (beef or pork)
1 tsp light soya sauce
1 1/2 big onions diced finely
2 cloves garlic chopped finely
Suggest to buy a packet of mix vegs from Cold Storage
1 small carrot
½ cup green peas

1 tsp cornflour – mix with a little water
¼ cup water
Pepper and salt to taste

Method
Pie Topping
1. Boil potatoes with skin on in pot of water till soft.
2. Peel and mash potatoes while it is still hot. Use fork or potato masher.
3. Add butter, salt and pepper. Add milk slowly till paste consistency is good for spreading.

5. You may have to add more milk if necessary as some potatoes absorb more moisture.

6. Leave aside.

Prepare Pie Filling
1. Marinate minced meat with soya sauce.
2. Heat pot with a little oil, fry garlic and onions till fragrant.
3. Add minced meat and fry till cooked.
4. Put in carrots and peas. Fry together
5. Add ¼ cup water and cornflour paste. Mix well. Season and simmer for a while.
6. Place meat mixture into aluminium pie tin (size: approx 10” x 12”) & top with mashed potato

7. Using a fork, lightly spread the mashed potato over the meat.
8. Brush top of potato with beaten egg.
9. Bake in oven for ½ hr until the top is slightly brown.